Changing tools to catch the beast: Why the EU studies should take policy seriously, and how this shift could help to understand integration

While the EU is still enlarging its membership and range of actions, the current stalemate of the integration project is pushing the ‘ontological’ question about the nature of the common Europe again at the top of both the political and the research agendas. This paper aims to contribute the debate and display the possibilities of enhancing the comprehension of the ‘supranational beast’ from a policy perspective. The focus hence is shifted on implementation and policy frameworks, and the field of analysis widened to cover the institutional transformations occurred within the administrative dimension both at the national and supranational levels in the last decades. From this perspective, previous findings are revisited to account for the new meaning of the common Europe after the Single European Act, the complexity of the current institutional architecture, and the reasons beneath the stalemate. Finally, the approach is translated into research hypotheses about integration and viable strategies for sustaining it beneath and beyond the usual ‘hard’ institutional re-engineering

institutionalizing practices in the context of extractive expansion

actors when an area under their control becomes the target of increased extractive activities. National and local public regulations safeguarding the environment, the assignment of extractive rights to individuals or companies, and handling of ensuing conflicts are developed in an institutional gray zone. This paper analyzes how informal institutions developed in early period become hybrid institutional entanglements that depend largely on configurations of power. It does so by looking at two cases in Peru: Water extraction in Ica, mostly by large companies and gold mining in Madre de Dios, mostly by small scale miners. Taken together, these cases show the institutions resulting from state governance of extractive activities depends heavily on the agency and political leverage of the state but also of other social actors

The Impact of Attractions Demand on Lodging Demand

This three-year study of the relationship between attractions demand and lodging demand indicate that increasing attendance at recreation and entertainment-related attractions is associated with heightened lodging demand. However, it is also clear that the relationship between attractions attendance and lodging demand may vary from destination to destination

God, the Bible and the Environment. An Historical Excursus on the Relationship between Christian Religion and Ecology

The aim of this paper is double. On the one hand, it focuses on the relationship between Christian religion and ecology in order to inquire into the most common charges that environmentalist movements address to Christians and to evaluate them showing their historical roots. On the other, this study will show how some recent suggestions taken from Catholic authors – who, at the same time, are the traditional ones – and from the teachings of the Church, could be useful to encourage and to promote ecological ethics founded on human responsibility. In order to do so, an historical method will be used. In the first part, some authors from the Patristic-Scholastic age will be take into consideration, with particular care to Augustine. In the second part an article by Lynn White will be presented as an emblematic turning point in the relationship between Christian religion and ecologists, paying attention first, to the Puritan context of his writings, and, second, to the birth of contemporary environmentalist theories. In the last part Romano Guardini’s work and Francis’ Laudato sì will be considered. My attention will be focused on the interpretation of some relevant verses taken from the Bible book of Genesis

Agri-Tainment: Combining Agriculture and Entertainment Along the Grand Strand

This paper provides an overview of the benefits sought by consumers from Agri-tainment venues and the challenges of establishing such venues. The paper begins by defining Agri-tainment, and providing examples of established Agri-tainment venues across the United States and within the Grand Strand area of South Carolina. It then provides a series of Supporting Statements regarding likely benefits and Cautionary Statements associated with Agri-tainment, and concludes with potential resources for expanding the offering of Agri-tainment venues along the Grand Strand

Interesting results - but are they valid?

QCA\u2019s grasp on causation is often questioned from a probabilistic, experimental understanding of validity. QCA results however rely on logical and set-theoretical inferences. Is a difference in languages enough to justify a separate validity yardsticks? And what secures that QCA is delivering valid results? The review of quantitative and qualitative exemplary yardsticks shows that traditions share validity concerns, yet give them different contents. The article argues that such difference is legitimized by the special assumptions about causation that inform their research processes. It therefore clarifies QCA causal ontology, identifies its special threats, and evaluates the strategies in use to prevent or tackle them - also adding a new one to address over-specified hypotheses. In this, the nomothetic yardstick proves to be a fertile framework, yet hardly a proper guideline for solutions

Finding Wonder, Love, and Praise: Weaving the Threads of Wesleyan and Methodist Theology and History Into a Twenty-First Century Worship Tapestry

The United Methodist Church has seen a decline in membership for many decades. Accompanying this numeric decline has been a decline in the vitality of worship in many churches. This denomination traces its roots to a renewal movement in the Church of England, led by John and Charles Wesley, which spread across the Atlantic and took hold in the American colonies, where it soon became a separate church. This new church was characterized by lively and Spirit-filled worship and exponential growth. This thesis explores and analyzes the theology of the Wesley brothers and the Wesleyan movement, the history of that movement as it developed into a new denomination in colonial America and the United States, the worship practices that emerged with that history, and the music that inspired that worship. That analysis is applied to a modern worship context with new musical expressions of Wesleyan ideas and practical application of the core of Wesleyan theology and practice

dilemas de política en la Región Andina

El curso se basa en la revisión del conjunto de instrumentos de política utilizados en los países de la región para maximizar la captura de la renta extractiva, y el impacto social, político y económico del uso, a través del gasto público, que se le da a esta renta extractiva capturada. En última instancia se trata de sistematizar los procesos de cambio institucional, tanto a nivel local como nacional, inducidos por la expansión de las industrias extractivas, y cómo éstos cambios ayudan o limitan a los países de la región a cumplir con los Objetivos del Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS). Luego de una sesión introductoria sobre la relación de las industrias extractivas y sostenibilidad, el curso inicia con un módulo sobre los distintos modelos de inversión observados en la región para los casos de las diferentes industrias (gas, petróleo, y minerales). La segunda sección se centra en las políticas fiscales (tributos y regalías) para las distintas industrias extractivas en la región. Luego de revisar la evolución de los instrumentos de rendición de cuentas y transparencia, sobre todo a partir de la implementación de la iniciativa EITI en la última década, el curso centra el análisis en la cuarta sección en los efectos de la renta extractiva; siguiendo la literatura acerca de la maldición de los recursos, se analizan los cambios tanto en indicadores sociales y económicos, así como también en términos de economía política de las instituciones. Finalmente, el curso culmina con una discusión acerca de las condiciones en las que las industrias extractivas pueden formar parte de una visión de sostenibilidad de largo plazo, enfatizando los desafíos para implementar un enfoque territorial del desarrollo. En suma, el curso persigue tres objetivos generales: (1) brindar a los estudiantes la información necesaria para comprender los principales cambios en las políticas e instrumentos para capturar a la renta extractiva durante el reciente boom; (2) incentivar investigación comparada sobre los efectos del boom extractivo con un enfoque multi¬dimensional; e (3) incentivar un debate acerca de las condiciones bajo las cuales las industrias extractivas pueden formar parte de una visión de sostenibilidad de largo plazo en la región. Todo esto con miras a aproximarse al cumplimiento de los ODS